Piston water-meter



2 Sheets-Sheet I.

Patentd Nbv.1,1881.

('Model.)

W. WELLS.

PISTON WATER METER. No. 248,966

2 Sheets-Sheet 2'.

(ModeL) w. WELLS. PISTON WATER METER.

B d 1 ,w E mum MM l: P

/f I e I WW 0 a a U a NiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM WELLS, OF NEW PROVIDENCE, NEW JERSEY.

PISTON WATER-METER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 248,966, dated November 1, 1881.

Application filed June 30, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WELLS, of New Providence, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Water-Meters; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to self-acting watermeters; and the novelty consists in the construction and arrangement of parts, as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, and specifically pointed out in the several clauses of the claims.

The object of the invention is to produce a a water-meter which will be simple in construction, efficient, reliable, and durable in service, and one which is not subject to become inoperative from ordinary non-use at intervals; and to these ends the invention consists, essentially, first, in means for utilizing the water-pressure to overcome the gravity of the operating parts, and hence reducing friction; second, in a self-acting valve within a reciprocating piston operated directly by the water-pressure and without the necessity of other mechanisms for shifting said valve; and third, in a novel and eminently useful 'arrangement of water-ports for inlet. and outlet, for valve-shifting and piston-impelling, all as hereinafter described.

It will be understood that the device helongs to that class of meters in which each stroke of the piston in either direction registers one upon any ordinary and proper arrangement of dial plates and indices, and the water-pressure is the motor which impels the piston.

The mechanisms which I employ in what I consider the best manner of carrying out the invention are fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section, showing the valve shifted and the piston about to commence its stroke; Fig.2, a transverse (Model.)

section through the lines 14; w in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a horizontal section through the lines 00 w of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the line 3 y, and Fig. 5 a similar section through the line 2 z of Fig. 1.

To enable others skilled in the art to which the invention relates to make and use my invention, I will particularly describe its construction and mode of operation, and to that end referto the said drawings,in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures, and in which Arepresents anordiuarymeter-cylinder, having water-inlet a, water-outlet a and aperture a to receive the registering device a. The inlet-connection a is arranged horizontally, and at its intersection a with the interior of the cylinder it is deflected upward at the bottom of the cylinder, in order that the water may gravitate out of the meter to prevent freezing after the supply has been cut off. In the interior of the cylinder, near each end, are recesses a ,thepurposes of which will be presently seen.

B represents the piston-heads, connected together by a segment, B, having formed in its lower surface a chamber, 13 from each end of which a port, 11 leads toward the interior. The chamber B covers the water-inlet a, whatever he the location of the piston, and the ports b are alternately closed or open, according to the position of its contained valve 0. The water approaching under pressure acts to force the piston upward sufficiently to overcome the gravital weight of the piston, and thus reduce orprevent friction between the said reciprocating piston and the cylinder. A port, b near each end of the piston, connects the recesses a with the interior of the piston, between the piston-head and the valve-head, and when said port is thus over the said recess a the inflow of water serves to shift the valve.

In order to shift the valve within the piston, the water within the space formed between the heads of the piston and valve must be displaced, and for this purpose I provide a side port, b, near each end, which port connects with a recess, a, leading to the outlet a Directly opposite the port b in the pistonthat is, in the upper side thereof-is located,

at each end, a port, D which, connecting with a duct, I), connects the chamber B through an annular l ecess, 0, formed in the valve-heads (J, with the interior of the cylinder, between the piston-heads B and the heads of the cylinder, when the valve 0 is in such position asto make the recess a register with the ports b b.

It will be observed that but one of the ports, I), is open or in connection with the recess cat the same time, and the water-pressure in the chamber 13 acts, through the closed port b against a segment, D, and in a. chamber, (1, formed therein. to overcome the gravity of the valve and buoy the same upward, to reduce friction between the valve and the piston, in

the same manner as the water in the chamber B buoys up the piston.

The valve-heads O are secured together by rods 0, and each is supplied with a cushion, E, upon its outer surfai-e,which is adapted to abut against the inner surface of the piston-heads, leavingsufiicieut space around thecushious for the reception of water through the valve-shifting port N, as it registers with the recesses a Secured to the piston-heads, upon the upper inner peripheries thereof, is a frame, F, having a slot, f, and differential abutting-headsf, which impinge alternately as the piston is reciprocated upon succeeding sides of a triangular plate, g, rigid wit-h a shaft, Gr, carrying an index,which comprises the registering mechanism, which may otherwise be of ordinary and well-known construction, it forming ofitself no part of this invention.

As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the piston has finished its stroke, the port I) has registered with the recess (4 and the water forced between the valve-head and piston-head has thrown the valve until the ports b and If have registered with the recess 0 in the valve-head C, thus connecting the receiving-chain ber B through the duct I), with'the space or chamber between the piston and cylinder heads. In that position the piston is ready to begin its next stroke, the opposite ports b b being closed, and the opposite port I) and duct b being open to allow the water between the piston-head and cylinder at the opposite end to displace the outgoing water from the piston, and to fill the space between the piston-heads as the water flows out at a The intlowing water through the receiving ports or spaces a a B, the ports b b, recess a, and duct 1) now serves to force the piston from the position shown in Fig. 1 toward the right, and this 210-. tion is maintained until the port b uncovers in the recess a, and the valve duct or port b? at the opposite end of the cylinder has uncovered over the recess of. The water at this point of the operation contained between the valve-head O and piston-head B upon the left must be'displaced before the force of the water through a and 1) upon the right can change or shift the valve, and this is automatically and simultaneously accomplished as the port I) uncovers in the recess a, allowing the water tojoin the outflow as the valve shifts.

It must be borne in mind that for efficient and reliable service the piston must make its full stroke at each and every reciprocation, and the construction of my device amply provides for this result by allowing the port I) to uncover slightly before the diagonally-opposite port b is covered, and before the pressure from that end has been cut off, and the waterpressure thus acts not only upon the filling end of the piston, but the pressure through the duct a b in the opposite end necessary to overcome the inertia of the valve and to effect the displacement of the water through the ports I) a acts equally upon the head of the piston to force it to finish its stroke. As the valve is shifted and the cushion E, in the return-stroke, abuts against the piston-head, the piston and valve assume the same positions upon the right that they are shown to occupy upon the left in Fig. 1, and the same results accrue in a reverse direction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is l. The cylinder A, having inlet a a, combined with the piston having inlet-chamber B and ports b and with the valve having segments D with chambers d, as set forth.

2. The cylinder A, having inlet a a and recesses a combined with the piston having duct or port lfiand a shifting valve,as set forth.

3. The combination of the cylinder having inlet a a, outlet a, and recesses a with the piston having chamber B ports b b and b and ducts b, and with a shifting valve having recess 0 and cushion E, arranged in such a manner that the valve will shift slightly before the impelling force is cut off, to insure the completion of each stroke by utilizing the waterpressure upon both piston-heads in the same direction, as set forth.

4. The valve and piston having the port b, combined with the cylinder A, having recess a and outlet M, as specified.

5. The valve having recess 0 and cushions E, combined with cylinder A a a and piston having ports I) b I) b and chamber B, as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM WELLS.

\Vitncsses:

H. CLAY. SMITH, THEO. MUNGEN. 

